Best School for Ultimate?

Nation,

As tryouts for universities quickly approach I wonder the following question:

• Which school provides the best ultimate choice for males and females entering university?

Of course, only the hardcore would choose their college based on the ultimate program. I'm glad I didn't know about the game at that time in my life.

Nonetheless, if a soon to be fresh asked you who the best school was for their gender, which school would you pick, and why?

I have put some options in the polls to the right. I can only put up so many schools, so for those of you who select "other" please post what school and why.

Can't wait to do the college preview.

Possible Factors??

-Graduation Rate of Players to Club Teams
-Experience on the Field (Satisfaction rates)
-Off Field Experience (Parties, Organizational Culture, Etc)
-Development Opportunities for New Players
-Planning and Structure
-Conditioning and Fitness
-Playing fields and access
-School view on the sport and the club

CUC 2008 Review- Judging the Experience

Nation,

Just starting to get back into a groove after a solid nationals experince. I will have reviews for all of the divisions, but first I wanted to focus on the non-ultimate add ons that help make or break a tournament experience.

What I Liked

• The volunteers were great. Really. I know everyone says that no matter what, but I mean it.
  
• The water supply for all fields was constant and of good quality
• I didn't like the lack of free field food, but I did enjoy the quality of food sold. One particular business at GAP fields had a great soup and sandwiches.
  
• The website was great.
• The tournament manual was great
• I heard good things about the tournamanet party, shuttle, and field food. Unlike Toronto, people claim there were hearty amounts of food for all.
  
• The fields were relatively decent and acceptable for nationals play. Yes, there were some fields that had baseball diamond infield for
  

What I Didn't Like

• I would have liked to have seen the schedule and results listed on the upa site in addition to website updates.
  
• The showcase game (at least the one on friday featuring Nomads and Phoenix took place at the same time all teams played. Thus, these teams didn't get the fan support and interest they deserve.
  

What I Hated

Due to intense heat for three days and sun burn, I decided to watch the men's finals online with some friends who don't play ultimate, but had great interest. Getting the chance to watch it for free in low bandwith via ultivillage was greatly appreciated.

However, the commentary for the finals (provided by compeitive players) was terrible. Jeters has made a post with regards to it as well. Why did I hate it so much? It's pretty simple:

-They were biased
-They talked about their own friends and their league teams
-They made comments about some girl on the sidelines in a red dress
-They offered no type of intelligence or insight.
-They didn't have a single clue who anyone on Mephisto was (outside of 5 guys)
-They didn't take it seriously

Ultivillage, if you want to be taken serious, get some decent commentators. Selecting players because they are elite players is not a good idea. You have only a few years to nail down the ultimate market before a real online streaming Giant (e.g. Mediazone) wakes up and challenges you, so make your product tough to beat.

Players who commentate, please step up to the challenge. Study the team rosters and know the players. Know their records and their tendancies. Don't make bad jokes, don't talk about your stupid league teams, and don't tell the viewers who you're "cheering for".

Before the legions of fans for these commentators put intheir inflated two cents, watch some real commentators and compare it to the Sunday performance. You'll be hard pressed to find the positive.

Your 2008 CUC Finals

Nation,

Womens: Stella (Ottawa) vs. Storm (Montreal)
Open: Mephisto (Montreal) vs. Nomads (Victoria/Vancouver)
Mixed: TFP (Vancouver) vs. ONYX (Quebec City)

Also note that GLUM from Ottawa are your national masters champions for 2008.

Should be a great championship Sunday!

Nationals 2008

Nation,

I've submitted an open preview to CUPA to appear on their digital magazine.

I'll also be writing a review of each division after nationals. I would have liked to have done previews, but it's been a busy summer.

Looking forward to seeing friends in Calgary!

Steven

Canadian Ultimate.. Something to be proud of!!!

Nation,

If you got the chance to see the Worlds Open final, you saw an incredible match that capped off a great worlds for the whole country and the global ultimate scene.

What was your favorite moment? Was it the shocking results of the Columbians in junior play? Was it the full emergence of the Japanese as an elite country? Canada's results?

Canada had great results in most divisions. Winning Open gold was unexpected.. as the Americans were represented by current UPA dynasty Sockeye. As much as the outcome was shocking and the play of the Canadians was awesome, I was really impressed by the sportsmanship in defeat by the great American team. It says a lot about them.

Personally, seeing Derek Alexander come back from devastating injuries) that threatened his ability to do day to day tasks) and be a go-to offensive handler was pretty remarkable. We're starting to take for granted his ability again, but 'fans' should remember that he didn't have fully operable wrists, elbows and knees last year.

The Open team can thank it's selection committee for keeping the great Furious core and going out and combing the country for Key additions. Players from Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal all played a huge role in grabbing gold.

The Masters team selected significantly less players from outside their region (Toronto) and fell to a great USA team (DoG with some other stars from Condors.. etc). A silver medal in a strong worlds year is good, but in falling short of gold by two points, one wonders if there were some Masters players who could have helped make the difference.

Our Mixed team might have been our youngest Worlds entry ever (outside of juniors). The squad, comprised mostly of Vancouver's TFP, always seem to be underrated as a bunch of kids. However, they just keep winning titles. Most of the players could play in another 2 Worlds before the age of 28... which is crazy!

The Women's team collected bronze. Traffic won the right to represent Canada fair and square, beating what many thought to be a superior Capitals team at nationals in 2007. They had to face the evenutal champs in the semis, and that's the luck of the draw. I think the ladies have to be proud of the way they rebounded and took 3rd place so strongly.

Jr Open lost to a super strong USA team in the finals. I always wonder what will happen to these juniors, and are they in fact the leaders of tommorow. I am sure the coaching staff made sure that learning what it takes to be a champion in future worlds was taught to these players.

Jr Women finished fifth, and they along with the United States probably learned a valuable lesson about the world and the strength of future global rivals. We don't have a monopoly on talent anymore, so team selection, coaching, and planning will be key to winning in in 2010 and 2012.

Trends- Where is Canada Headed?

Here is a medal comparision from Turku to Vancouver
Open - Gold (2004) Gold (2008) Women's- Gold (2004) Bronze (2008) Masters- Silver (2004) Silver (2008) Mixed- Silver (2004) Gold (2008) Jr Open- Silver (2004) Silver (2008) Jr Women- Gold (2004) 5th (2008)

We seem to have replicated similar results from the last worlds, but these results provide just a shell of the real story. I think Canada has to pay close attention to our juniors performance, and take a look at the difference in pts score/pts against differential in each division.

We should be proud of Worlds 2008, but the work for 2012 begins now....

Worlds 2008- Saturday ....the Final Stanza

Nation,

Very exciting Friday. The Worlds will conclude today, with finals in the men's, mixed and women's divisions.

Now... we sit and watch.

Open

As predicted, Canada advances to the finals and will play the USA. Japan and Britain will battle for Bronze.

It's really going to be a epic match that will stay in people's minds for the next 4 years. It might also be a final call for many of the great Canadian players that have lead us for years.

Women's

Canada is left asking themselves what happened in the semis, after blowing a 3-0 lead over the USA, Team Canada rebounded to win the bronze over Australia.

Japan will play USA in the finals. I honestly don't know who the crowd will cheer for. I hope they are kind to the Yanks.

Mixed

If there was one thing to be proud of as a Canadian on Friday, it was the mixed team's victory over a great American squad.

As most of us thought in the pool (to the right), Mixed was the division where we thought we had the best shot at gold. Facing the americans in semis seemed like a huge barrier, but this team answered that challenge. Shout out to my boy Scotty Hislop, as well as Tiffany Lin, Kate Crump, Andrea Cheng, and Eammon Watson.

It's not over yet- Japan awaits in the final.

Masters

Another heartbreaking loss to the Americans, but a silver medal to remind them of just how well they performed this week.

As predicted, Pete Knowles emerged as a dominant cutter and helped keep Canada close, but the US (considerably better than the 2004 version) were able to win 15-13.

Jr Open

Our Junior team wins the silver medal, suffering a heavy 17-7 loss to our American rivals.

The Germans win the bronze.

Jr Women

Japan further states their emergence to the elite levels with a lopsided finals win over Australia.

Our women finish off a tough worlds with two great wins. They finish 5th. The United States beats Cinderella team Columbia and takes the bronze, winning by one point.

Worlds 2008- Friday Key Games

Nation,

What looked like a poor Worlds Performance for Canada has turned out to be one that shows promise heading into the final rounds.

Canada updates in bach division

Open

Canada Plays their semis against Great Britain. Our team has lucked out in the semis, as Japan and the USA square off in the other semi. However, GBR will look to do everything in their power to pull off the upset.

While John Hassell, Miek Grant, Kirk Savage and Mark Roberts have lead the team in goals and assists, one can see balanced scoring throughout the roster. That's a sign of team depth and good coaching (employing everyone and saving the best for the finals)

Women's

Canada plays their semi against Team USA today, and it will be a very daunting task. USA has lost already in this tourney (to Japan), but their UPA dominance and goal differential in this tourney has to make Canada the underdog.

The other semi has rivals Australia versus Japan. 2004 silver medalists Finland are nowhere to be found in the top 8.

Mixed

Canada lost a heartbreaker 16-15 game to the USA yesterday, but they are still alive and in the semi finals. They will have a rematch versus the USA, and look to reverse the outcome today. Given the back and forth nature of Thursday's game, our coed squad is definitely capable of winning the match and moving on.

Once again, Japan and Australia are in the other semi.

Masters

Canada takes on Australia in the semi, while the USA takes on New Zealand on the other side of the playoff.

It's looking like Canada and USA will have a duel in the final, and Canada will attempt to make up for the dissapointment of the 2004 Worlds loss.

It has been a team effort stat wise for Canada. Expect Pete Knowles to really step up in the final two games

Jr Open

Canada lsot to Australia and were blown out by USA in the prelims. However, they regrouped and find themselves in the finals versus archrival USA.

Mark Llyod of General Strike/Western fame is flat out dominating the tournament. Ian Chan is a goal scoring machine. The Ottawa juniors have given almost zero in terms of goals and assists.

Patrick Roberts and Grant Lindsley will lead the USA into this great battle.

Jr Women

Canada has taken a major step back this year and finds themselves fighting for 5th place. It is very deserving of it's own article once Worlds has concluded.

Australia and Japan will duke it out for Gold. USA tries to beat cinderella story Columbia for Bronze.

Jordan Meron has emerged as a star for Team Canada, scoring 23 goals in the tourney thus far.